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Homeless Sandwiches

(Begun: September 19, 1999)
Scott Ostler of the SF Chronicle first brought this strange tale of 7 police officers busting a bunch of high-school students for distributing food to the homeless in U.N. Plaza. The story gets even stranger the deeper you dig into it. [Wattenburg & Sheerin]

Devall’s Environmental Mansion

(Begun: June 6, 1999)
Stay tuned for Bill’s latest crusade about landowners being harassed by the Bureau of Land Management, creating a private haven for an environmental organization where residents are not allowed to repair or access their own property, but the environmentalist who campaigned to protect the area can build a mansion for his personal use. [Wattenburg & Sheerin]

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David J. Irey

Mr. Irey is a special environmental prosecutor who instigated the prosecution of Robert Womack for removing an underground gas tank. He also prosecuted a 70-year-old retired woman who received a parcel of land and building in her divorce settlement that had previously been used as a gasoline station, and had two underground fuel tanks still on the property.

Doug Held

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Fire Management Officer who ordered the July 3rd, 1999 controlled burn that destroyed over 20 homes in the Trinity Mountains of Northern California, near Lewiston.

Lt. Paul Chignell

Accordingvto Scott Ostler of the SF Chronicle, Chignell led a group of 7 police officers in shutting down “Homeless Sandwiches”, a volunteer effort of Branson School students (a private high school in Ross, CA) to feed homeless in U.N. Plaza every Saturday.

Martiniz Superior Court Judge John Minney

A defendant who pled guilty to the manufacture and possession of over 37 pounds of methamphetamine with intent to sell was given a sentence of only 1 year in county jail and probation instead of the possible sentence of 14 years, 8 months.

A 33 year-old high school track coach used the internet to lure a 14-year-old boy to his home where he had sex with him, and was sentenced only to 1 year in county jail and 4 years probation. Another 21 year-old defendant in the case was sentenced only to probation with no jail time.

John Minney is the Supervising Criminal Judge for the Contra Costa Superior Court, and is on the Executive Committee, the SCA4 Committee, and the Criminal Trials Committee.

The cost of the transcript is mandated by Government Code Section 69950, which works out to $3.00 per page for the original and one copy. The transcript can be also supplied on ASCII disk, but the price remains the same.

Both the state and federal constitutions shield newspersons such as Hemilla from becoming involved as witnesses or in producing unpublished notes or photographs.